


One Fine Day

by bettsc



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 22:50:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14924348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettsc/pseuds/bettsc
Summary: Jughead and Betty have a moment in Pop's.This drabble was inspired by Fialta's cover of the song "One Fine Day" that was used in 2x22. If you want to set the scene, I recommend listening to the song while you read this. No Beta for this one, so please excuse any mistakes.Enjoy!xo





	One Fine Day

Jughead removed Betty from his side where they lay wrapped up in one another and gently laid her down next to him. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, "Now that I'm the Serpent King, I was wondering how you felt about being my Queen?"

Betty stroked his jaw with her fingers and a look of adoration in her bright emerald eyes, "You asking me to join the Serpents, Jug?"

"Sort of"

Betty quickly sat up in his arms.

"You don't have to answer right now you can take your time. Let me know…." he looked away sheepishly and shrugged, "like tomorrow at lunch or--"

Betty let out a breathy giggle with her _yes_ and climbed into Jughead's embrace and kissed him. He returned her kiss with fervor and coaxed her lips a part with his tongue.

Sweet whisperings and promises of forever were spoken between him and Betty that night. It was almost as if they were frozen in time. Away from a town rebuilding itself, The Serpents, Cooper family drama and everything else.

He'd be lying if he said his new-found status in the Serpents didn't provide a lift in his confidence; but it also brought unrest and anxiety. The first time he stepped into that world, it broke him. It ended up ripping away many of the things he held dear and left him making mistakes right and left. He was determined to do it right this time, to make his father and The Serpents proud. But most importantly, to never ever let Betty think she was anything less than the single most important person in his life.

He couldn't lose her, not again, not for anything. Memories of blinding white pain inflicted by Penny and the Ghoulies still haunt his dreams, but it's her voice and face that pull him back every time. Asking Betty to be his Queen was an unspoken promise to always keep her by his side. A promise to keep her safe, worship her like the revenant queen she is, and never let her go.

The days that followed were filled with chaos-namely Archie's arrest at the dubious hands of Hiram Lodge. Jughead and FP had spent their time helping Fred and Mary who was representing him find out as much information as possible that would exonerate his best friend. Betty spent most of her time outside of school with her mother, and Veronica who had moved into the Five Seasons with Hermione for the time being.

And only in Riverdale would family drama and town riots not be an excuse for doing your homework on time. It was almost comical Jughead thought, the amount of turmoil the universe had bestowed upon two sixteen-year olds. It's how Jughead found himself in a booth at Pop's, with Betty tucked into his side. And though he was trying to concentrate on the history notes in front of him, his mind kept wandering and struggling with the weight of the memories around him that threatened to drag him under.

\--

It was well past midnight and they were the only customers in Pop's. Thankfully the Riverdale institution's neon lights stayed on for 24 hours with the promise of never ending cups of black coffee.

Pop's wandered over their booth, "You two kids doing alright over here?" as he poured a refill of their coffee.

Betty let out a small yawn, "Yeah, Pop we're good. Just trying to get through some homework"

"Ah, well hopefully this coffee spurs you along some. Look, you think you kids could hold down the fort for a few out here while I do some prep for tomorrow in the back?"

Jughead, answering in between a yawn and small stretch of his own, "Sure thing, Pop"

"Thanks, you two let me know if you need anything", he smiled wistfully and made his way into the back kitchen and let the door swing closed behind me.

Jughead decided to get up and stretch his legs. Betty let out a tired yawn and stretched her arms over her head. The motion caused a small sliver of skin to show as her sweater rode up, an action that made Jughead's mouth go dry. Flashbacks from their night at the Five Seasons started to fill his mind and threated to wain his concentration on homework even more.

He shook himself out of his reverie and excused himself to the restroom. When he came out, the old jukebox in the corner caught his attention. The soft music coming from it reminded him of how nervous he had been the night of homecoming, and the prospect of dancing with Betty. He knew it would be different from the times that Jellybean used to stand on his toes while they danced in their trailer's cramped kitchen. Betty looked ethereal that night in her icy blue dress.

Jughead pulled a few quarters from his jeans and popped them into the jukebox. He scrolled through the selections and ended up choosing a cover of a song he had vaguely remembers ringing through the diner during one of the many nights he would stay at Pop's as late as he could before he would return to his makeshift home at the Twilight.

He smiled and walked back to the booth where he and had Betty had been sitting.

"Betts?"

"Mhm?" she mused not taking her eyes of her copy of The Age of Innocence.

"May I have this dance?"

She put down her book and gave a curious look with the tilt of her head "Jughead Jones, did you just ask me to dance willingly?"

"Yes Betty, I did. And I don't know about you, but I need to move or otherwise I'm going to fall asleep" he added hesitantly, "and we never did get a chance to dance at homecoming"

She gave him a small smile though her eyes were sad. He recalled how she fearlessly she stood up for him and his father that night. And how after his father had told him about moving to Toledo, he looked up to see her waiting for him at the top of the stairs. In that moment he knew that home was not a place, but a person. And Betty was is.

He raised an eyebrow at her to ask her once more and she playfully rolled her eyes and took his hand. He settled one hand on the smooth curve of her hip as hers came up to rest on his shoulder. She turned her face towards his chest and he pressed a small kiss into her hair. They swayed together lightly as the music played in the background.

 _One fine day, you'll look at me_  
_And you will know our love was, meant to be_  
_One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl_

He recalls the night that he realized there would never be a day where he was not in love with Betty Cooper. For so long, Jughead had tried to hide the life that threatened to besiege him, and it came crashing down in one night. But Betty was there, reassuring and supporting him. She is still there, in his worst moments.

When she asked, ' _Do you believe him?'_  in reference to his father's noninvolvement in Jason Blossom's murder, and he had told that he did asked her the same. She gently held his face with her two hands and said, _'I believe you, Jughead'_. He returned her ardent support by sealing his lips with hers, hoping that she would understand the amount of love and gratitude he felt for her through his lips.

He thinks he first fell in love with Betty Cooper when they were 6 years old. It was Archie's 7th birthday party and Jughead's family couldn't afford a birthday present for him to take to the party. They gathered for cake and presents and Jughead started to back away hoping that maybe if he hid inside while Archie opened his presents, no one would notice he was missing. He was halted by a familiar voice.

"Juggie, where are you going? Don't you want to see Archie open your gift?" Betty asked with only the innocent curiosity a 6-year-old could muster.

"I couldn't get Archie a gift because my parents said it was too expensive", he cast his eyes downward at the ground. He suddenly felt Betty's small hands grab his.

"It's okay Juggie, we can share my gift!" She determinedly dragged Jughead inside the Andrews house, where they found a blue crayon in the living room. She tore the card off the packaging and opened it, destroying the sealed envelope in the process. Where Alice Cooper had written "Happy Birthday, Archie! From Betty", she scrawled "+ Juggie" and aptly added a small misshapen crown next to it.

"There. Now it's perfect!" she beamed at him as she held it up for him to see.

"Thanks, Betty" he smiled sheepishly.

"You're welcome, that's what best friends do. And you're my best friend and I love you, Juggie"

"I love you too, Betty." And in that moment, Jughead looked at the pretty girl in front of him, with her bright green eyes and chubby cheeks and knew that he was always meant to love Betty Cooper.

 _The arms I long for, will open wide_  
_And you'll be proud to have me_  
_Walkin' right by your side_  
_One fine day_  
_You're gonna want me for your girl_

He remembers the night, not so long ago, that they swayed to music under the neon lights of Pop's. Betty was safely tucked into his arms in front of him while they watched The Pussycats perform outside. The whole night had been orchestrated by Betty in order to save Pop's. One of the many things about that night that stands out so vividly in his mind is how incredible Betty's legs had looked in the short maroon shorts that made up her Pop's uniform, but also the insurmountable pride he felt as Pop thanked her for helping to save the sacred diner and reminding everyone that it was the heart of Riverdale. He stood there transfixed on the strong, steadfast and beautiful girl--that for some reason, chose to love him. He still thanks whoever above that she does.

 _Though I know you're the kind of boy_  
_Who only wants to run around_  
_I'll keep waiting, and, someday darling_  
_You'll come to me when you want to settle down_

Pain, like Jughead had never endured before. A blinding white-hot pain that seemed to seep into every part of his body. The Gauntlet was meant to test a Serpent, to weed out the weak. Sometimes Jughead thinks that the only way he survived the initiation is that because his heart was too broken to feel anything; his body too numb to register the pain being inflicted upon him. He kept replaying Archie's words over and over and over in his head "No, you guys haven't been good…" His worst fear had become a reality, and he knew it was coming. He knew that he was never going to be the person that Betty deserved. He had let the Southside pull them apart, and at the time, he thought it for the best because he would only bring her down alongside him.

 _One fine day, we'll meet once more_  
_And then you'll want the love you threw away before_  
_One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl_

The days leading up to Veronica's confirmation had been a blur. Jughead had the felt the extraordinary backlash of his recent decisions come to fruition in so many ways he wasn't sure if there was a right path anymore. Everything he did, every decision he made only made things worse. That night Betty had helped him find the head of General Pickens and clear the Serpents name. She consoled him in the dimly lit room of his family's dilapidated trailer. He knew then and knows now, that she could handle any darkness within him; and he with hers.

"Or you could stay." Her face seemed to register the words and her eyes betrayed a million different emotions in seconds among them awe, unease and what prompted his next word: hope.

"Stay."

As he leaned his nose into Betty's hair as they swayed together at Pop's he's reminded of her hair that night. The roaming of hands on skin, timid yet passionate. Two young people searching for something only to find the love they had been missing was there the whole time. Jughead had always known that his life was better because Betty Cooper was in it and as they laid tangled up in each other, he vowed that he would continue to love Betty Cooper the rest of his life.

 _One fine day, you'll look at me_  
_And you will know our love was, meant to be_  
_One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl_

As his mind drifted through these memories, he held onto Betty a little bit tighter. They stayed embraced long after the song ended; both wanting to stay in the quiet and calm moment they had created as long as possible before the disarray of Riverdale came breaking through once again. The silent sway of two young lovers, who were always meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me over on tumblr @bettsc. Hugs to you!


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